CONFUSION is surrounding the launch of Guildford borough's new rubbish and recycling collection scheme, with some residents complaining they have not received food waste caddies or wheelie bins and others saying changed collection days could leave them with overflowing waste.

However, the borough council has insisted the green project, called Recycling Works, was rolled into action as planned on Monday and had "started well".

But the authority could not deny that it had been receiving up to 4,000 calls a day to the council hotline this week.

The initiative is the biggest change to recycling and waste collections across Guildford for 20 years.

But homeowners have complained of not having food waste containers delivered, with no indication of when they would be arriving.

In Merrow and Bellfields, a changed collection day from Tuesday to Friday - and now having alternate weeks for recycling and rubbish - could leave homes with some household waste piling up for more than two weeks.

Vivienne Ashbolt, from Littleton, said: “They have not been able to issue the food bins, we’ve just been told to put our food waste into black sacks and put them outside. You just can’t do that.

“My husband and I, we’re both so angry we were asked all to do this stuff, we were happy to complete, but they haven’t managed to sort it out. I really don’t think much of it at all now.”

Another Guildford resident, Nick Nickells, said he was told the council had no recycling containers left and that it would be another eight weeks before they had the next delivery.

But the borough council has claimed there are no issues with wheelie bin or kitchen caddy stocks.

Teacher Emma Kleboe, who lives in Bellfields, spent four days trying to get answers from the council.

She said: “I was told if I wanted a food caddy I should go and get it myself, and that they couldn’t afford to have people complaining about it.”

Mrs Kleboe added: “I’ve got the wheelie bin, that’s turned up, but the collection’s on a Friday and they’ve said they’re only picking up the kitchen caddy and the normal recycling.

"I’ve already got four bags of rubbish, they’ve suggested we take it to the dump, but I don’t drive. Do they expect me to carry it there?

“It just seems a complete disaster, a complete and utter joke, it can’t be that complicated can it? It seems they’ve left everything to the last minute.”

A spokesman for Guildford Borough Council said: “Our Recycling Works scheme started on Monday and we are pleased to say it has started well, with high levels of resident participation and recycling tonnage.”

The council is in the process of delivering 110,000 food waste caddies, 50,000 wheelie bins and 1.5million bin liners.

The spokesman said that the vast majority had been delivered, adding: “We are working as quickly as possible to solve any problems."

The council advised that most people had a new collection day and that each household had been sent a letter and collection calendar with the details.